The concept of a CMDB clearly aligns with the practices of IT asset management that lead to understanding and controlling the IT environment. IT asset management goals include the reduction of risk to the environment of a breach and service management, just as the ITIL view of a CMDB does. The ROI from collection and use of configuration data is central to managing the business of IT and while a primary goal of IT asset management, it is compatible with ITIL, especially with version 3. Historical and detailed configuration data collected from many sources supports fact-based, accurate decision making which is the real ROI from a CMDB. Experience is leading ITIL-centric IT organizations to revisit lifecycle repositories as a CMDB source.
According to Terry Divelbliss, Director of Lifecycle Management for Eracent, integration and depth of data are crucial commonalities. “A comprehensive view in lifecycle management links the tracking of assets with associated configuration items such as catalog items, contracts, financial details, and other interdependencies. Importing and linking data from disparate sources such as service management or financial tools is not difficult if unique identification facilitates this correlation.”
The ultimate goal of savings is demonstrated through financial management, with multiple business questions answered by analysis of related data elements from a variety of perspectives. A powerful data relationship within Eracent’s EnterpriseLM™ is the linkage of work orders from initial procurement through the entire life of the asset. “EnterpriseLM work orders cross-reference information imported from incident management, change management or a help desk application to summarize the detailed information that fuels rapid decision making,” stated Divelbliss about the lifecycle management solution.
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